Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi, has questioned if India are afraid to lose to Pakistan during the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.
Sethi’s remarks came after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced that the matches will be held in Colombo, as scheduled, despite poor weather forecast in the coming days.
“BCCI/ACC informed PCB today that they had decided to shift next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan? Look at the rain forecast!” Sethi posted on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier, the President of ACC, Jay Shah, made a mockery of the Asia Cup 2023 after it emerged on Tuesday that the Super 4 matches will be held in Colombo, as originally planned, instead of Hambantota.
On Monday, the ACC had decided to shift all the Super 4 matches of the Asia Cup 2023 to Hambantota as a long rain spell is expected in Colombo for the next 15 days.
The decision was taken after closely looking at the weather forecast and the possibility of rain disturbing the matches. The decision was also conveyed to all members of Shah-led ACC through an email.
However, soon after, the email was retracted with the ACC saying that the matches will be held in Colombo as per schedule.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is unhappy over the unilateral decision by the ACC and has called for an urgent meeting to resolve the matter.
The PCB is facing logistical issues due to the sudden change in venue for Asia Cup 2023 matches, meanwhile the players are also anxious because of the lack of clarity about the upcoming matches.
Shah, who is also the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was also involved in making late changes to the ICC World Cup 2023 schedule which led to criticism from cricketing circles.
